The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

Search Results for: content calendar

by

It’s Time to Check in with Your Content Calendar – How’s Your Year Going?

Here we are, mid-way through the year already, and whether your business has been holding steady, inching upward or hanging on for the ride of your life, today is the day to check in on where you’ve been and where you’re going. The content marketing calendar you mapped out last fall may still be working beautifully for you. Or, you may need a refresh based on what your data is telling you. The point is, you don’t know how well (or poorly) things are going if you don’t take a beat to check things out. 

Consider this your reminder to check things out.

Why Checking in On Your Marketing Plan Matters

Content marketing isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it game. Just like your business evolves, so should your content strategy. By taking a minute to evaluate your content calendar, you can ensure you’re on track to meet your goals – and if you’re not, you will still have time to adjust for what’s not working.

What to Look for When Reviewing Your Content Calendar

Whether or not you’ve drafted an annual content calendar, this exercise is still important. You’ve to look left and look right so you can finish the year strong. Here are key questions to consider at the mid-point of the calendar year:

  • Are you sticking to your plan? Have you been consistent with posting your materials and are you covering the topics you planned, or have you veered off course?
  • What’s performing well? Look at your analytics. Which posts are driving traffic and engagement? Are there certain content formats that are performing better than others? What about topics that resonate more strongly with readers?
  • Where are the gaps? Are there important topics you haven’t touched on yet? Do you have a balance between timely and evergreen content (i.e., stuff that will stand the test of time)?
  • Are you hitting your goals? Speaking of data and KPIs, are your blog posts leading to conversions? Are your social posts generating the engagement you expected? Understanding if your marketing is working can be tricky, but there are benchmarks you can track, like increased web traffic, increased number of leads and decreased cost-per-lead.
  • What adjustments can you make? It’s never too late to make a change. Look objectively at your plan and assess if you should shift your focus based on trends or industry changes, or to see if you need to increase posting frequency.

How to Correct Course if Needed

Based on the answers to these questions, you now have an opportunity to reset for the remainder of the year. If what you’re doing is working well, congratulations! Make note of those wins and identify ways to replicate them. If you need to consider new options, here are a few that may be worth trying:

  • Repurpose successful content – Turn a high-performing blog into a newsletter campaign, infographic or social series.
  • Test new formats – If long-form isn’t working, try bite-sized content or vice versa.
  • Realign with business goals – Ensure your content still aligns with your broader marketing objectives.

Need Help with Your Content Strategy? Call us at The Found Gen.

A content calendar is a roadmap, not a rigid rulebook. Checking in regularly ensures that your strategy remains relevant, engaging and effective – and when it’s not, you have the freedom to change it. 

If you need help making sure your marketing strategy stays on course, call us at The Found Gen today. We can take a fresh look at your marketing strategy to see how we can help you charge boldly ahead.

by

Why an Annual Content Calendar Will Save Your Marketing Strategy

Seeing your content marketing strategy all in one place gives you a panoramic picture of what information you will share with your audience for the year. Planning ahead is the best way to avoid unnecessary repetition while also enabling you to capitalize on key promotions that you don’t want to forget about due to last-minute-marketing.

To be most effective with your content calendar, you’ll need to decide how often you want to post content, and how that content will make it to your target audience. A good mix of scheduled emails, blogs on your own site, and social media is the best way to reach your customers where they are.  

Getting Started is the Hardest Part

We get it – looking at a blank calendar can be intimidating. Take it from the content pros, putting your content strategy to the backburner will do far more harm than good.

Finding one event to mention or promote within your content for each month is an easy way to start building your content calendar. Holidays, local events, National Day of (Fill In the Blank) – it seems like every day is a national day of something – are great topics to get you started.

Next up? Think about some of the most commonly asked questions you get from either prospective or current clients. Write down twelve that you are really tired of answering. Boom. That’s another post per month.  And here we are chipping away at creating a boat load of quality content.

As you’re planning out topics don’t forget to take notes. Never assume that you’ll remember why you wanted to include specific content, or what you wanted to say about it. Make yourself as many notes as you can. Even if it’s just raw ideas, having notes to jog your mind down the road will make creating your content and sticking to your posting schedule go much smoother.

If the idea of drafting a content calendar is a bit too much, or downright stress-inducing, then drop us a line. We do this every single day. Literally. For all sorts of great businesses, just like yours.

At The Found Gen, we cater to businesses who want to maintain their online presence but need all their time to run their business. We work closely with our clients to craft the right combination of online content, email content, and social media activity for them. Part of that is creating a content calendar just for you – with all original content.

by

How a Content Calendar Can Shape Your Approach to Business

How’s that content situation looking for your business?

Are you posting on social media haphazardly? Sending off those blogs in bulk batches or not at all? And is your monthly newsletter more like a semi-annual event?

It’s tough to keep track of all that content. You might have social media under multiple platforms, blogs, newsletters, eBlasts and more all going out on a regular basis. But if there’s no schedule and no underlying strategy to your posts then you’re essentially tossing your content into the void and hoping for the best.

Guess what we’re going to recommend, nay, we’re going to have to insist…

You need a content calendar.

A content calendar is about a long-term strategy. It’s about consistency and quality content. Most of all it’s about managing content so it does what it was intended to do: bring you more customers and more revenue. And research has proven that marketers with a content marketing plan (which includes a calendar) are 60% more effective.

If you don’t have a content calendar, you’re making your marketing strategy less of a targeted, systematic approach and more of a gamble. You’re also risking the loss of engagement and reach from your content. You spend a lot of time on your content. You need to make sure that investment pays off. And for that you need to schedule it out in congruence with your overall marketing strategy.

Here’s how a content calendar can shape your approach to business.

Organization

Just ask Marie Kondo, organization is life changing, and business changing. Calendars can give you a bird’s eye view of your marketing strategy and help you notice any gaps. This organization is going to make your team more efficient and your content more potent. Not to mention it’s going to relieve stress so that everyone knows where they’re at in the content production process.

Consistency and quality

One of biggest differences a content calendar can make in your business is by allocating time to create better content. How do those last minute blogs and social posts work for you? When you have more time to craft your message, you can speak more eloquently, more effectively and you’ll have less errors. Additionally, you’ll create the consistency that consumers crave if they’re going to engage.

Further improve strategy through metrics

When you’re following a calendar, you can look back at your engagements and other metrics to measure the effectiveness of your content and campaigns. With this information, you can then return to the calendar, reshape it, fine tune it and make it even more effective.

Seasonality and trends

A post about Christmas isn’t going to fare so well in July. One of the things a content calendar does best is to help you curate your content for the seasons, as well as the important dates in your industry. You can also follow trending topics and incorporate these into your content and your calendar to best reach your audience in the moments that matter.

Communication and strategy across departments

No matter the size of your company, if you have multiple people or multiple departments tackling tasks and projects, there needs to be strategy and communication between sales and marketing, as well as other sections that need to be in the know. A content calendar puts everyone on the same page, literally. This creates better communication, better content and ensures that the overall strategy is being implemented effectively.

Set your business up for long-term success

Looking ahead rather than at your feet as you try to keep up with daily demands is going to give your business a much better chance. As an added bonus, it might just help you keep your sanity! Every business needs to have a vision for their future if they want long-term success. A content calendar sets you up to better manage day-to-day activities as well as giving you a concrete form to plan and measure your future success.

Get that content calendar going ASAP! Don’t make us come over there and force organization upon you… Because we’ll do it. And we’ll only be sort of happy about it.

Got content questions? Don’t know where to start with your content calendar? The Found Gen’s got you, Boo.

by

Get Organized: How a Content Calendar Can be a Lifesaver

How many times have you found yourself scrambling to come up with a topic for a blog post that needs to be posted in a couple of hours? It happens to all of us probably more times than we care to admit.

Producing a steady stream of valuable content is one of the best inbound marketing tactics businesses can use. But, ideas (and content) don’t happen overnight. Creating good quality content can be a tough and exhausting job.

As a content marketer, a content calendar can help save you time and energy—and, get you organized. Here’s how:

It acts as a vault for your brainstorming/ideas.

After you’ve chosen a calendar template that works for you, you can begin filling it with important dates throughout the year. Different holidays, industry events, campaigns, launches of new product/services, annual promotions, and busiest/slowest periods of the year are all important to keep in mind as a content marketer.

By brainstorming important content ahead of time, you’ll never have to scramble to find something valuable to write about again.

You’ll publish and promote content on time.

 After you’ve brainstormed all of the important content in your calendar, publishing dates for all of the content need to be scheduled in as well. And, don’t forget to include any supporting activities that promote each piece of content. For example, if you’re promoting each blog post by posting a link on social media, include that in the calendar, too. Promotional activities are extremely important and deserve the same level of attention as the content they’re pushing.

You can schedule months in advance. 

The more content you add to your calendar, the more likely you are to have a steady flow of relevant pieces that can be produced and published quickly. To avoid scrambling at the last minute, schedule at least one month in advance. But remember, flexibility is important when it comes to creating content, as well. If unexpected opportunities pop up, you don’t want to overlook them simply because you already have content planned. The great thing about a content calendar is that you can always go back later for an idea you don’t use right away. 

Creating a content calendar isn’t difficult, but it does a little time, effort and brainstorming. However, all of the effort you put into it will be rewarded when you’re able to consistently produce valuable content. Need some help with your content? Let’s talk.

by

Why a Content Strategy is Crucial for Business Growth and How to Build One

There’s wistfulness to the wandering, but if you truly want to reach your destination, you need a map – and an efficient one at that. Taking side roads and detours may still get you where you want to go, but they come at the cost of time and money. The same is true with your content plan. Your marketing strategy plays a critical role in supporting your overall business growth, and without an effective roadmap, you may never get where you want to go.

A well-defined content strategy ensures that every piece of content you create attracts, engages and converts the right audience. Here’s what you need to know about why and how to build out your content pipeline.

Why a Content Strategy Fuels Business Growth

Content is one of the most powerful tools for building brand awareness, establishing trust and driving sales. But without a strategy, even great content can miss its mark. A clear plan ensures your messaging is consistent, relevant and aligned with your business goals. Good content does the following and more:

  • It attracts the right audience – Strategic content targets your ideal customers with topics they care about and answers they’re seeking.
  • It engages and educates – Valuable content keeps prospects engaged and positions you as an industry authority.
  • It converts with purpose – A strategy ensures your content gently nudges readers toward action, whether that’s booking a call, signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
How to Build an Effective Content Strategy

As you work toward building out a content marketing calendar to augment your business goals, it’s useful to come at the process with a fresh perspective and consider multiple vantage points. Here are some basic steps to take: 

  • Define your goals and KPIs – Start by identifying what you want your content to achieve (i.e., more leads, increased brand awareness, stronger customer retention, etc.) and set measurable KPIs to track progress.
  • Know your audience inside out – Create detailed buyer personas that cover demographics, pain points and motivations. The better you understand your audience, the easier it is to create content that resonates.
  • Audit your existing content – Review your current blog posts, newsletters and social media content. What’s performing well? What’s falling flat? Use this data to refine your future approach.
  • Create a content calendar – Based on your research findings, plan topics, formats and publishing dates for the next 6-12 months. This keeps your team organized, maintains consistency and ensures your content supports ongoing campaigns and business goals.
  • Measure and adjust – Track your results regularly. If certain content types or topics are outperforming others, double down on what works and refine what doesn’t.
Growth is an Evolution

Business growth is an evolution, and so too is your content strategy. By being strategic and agile with how your marketing efforts support your overall goals, you can create a pipeline of trust and opportunity.

If you need help building out your content strategy or executing on goals you’ve already established, we’re here to help. Give our team a call today at TFG Marketing and Design to get started. 

by

What Type of Content Is Best Suited for Your Business?

We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again (and probably 1,000 more times): Content is king.

Your business needs content like fish need water. Content in an essential component to business these days – any and all types of business.

But with all these forms of content, how do you know what’s going to work best for your business?

It’s a great question with no simple answer. But you can start answering this questioning by knowing your customers.

Who is your content for?

Start with the who. Who are your customers? Get to know them inside and out, not just the demographics and numbers, but the psychographics, the studies, the research, and, perhaps most important, the things you can only learn by speaking with an actual human being.

Then move on to the what. What are your customers searching for on Google? What are they interested in? What do they need to know more about? What are their pain points and what solutions can you offer?

Next, the where. Where are your customers going for information, to meet their needs or for entertainment? Are they on LinkedIn or Instagram? Are they looking local? Are they searching on Google or do they rely on referrals?

Now, the how. This may be the most important question to ask in order to determine what type of content will work for your audience. How are they accessing information – laptop, phone, tablet, word of mouth? How do they best consume information? How do they prefer to interact with brands?

Getting to know your customers is the majority of the work in determining the content that will best reach them. Without thorough and accurate knowledge of your clientele, your content marketing plan doesn’t have the bones to hold up your body of content (gross image, we know, but hopefully it sticks).

Types of content

Content is the art of communicating directly with your audience. Do it right and you get people to read and view your content, derive some kind of benefit from it, then eventually give you their business. That’s the big idea, but to do that you need great content and you need to make sure it’s the right type of content for your customers.

Here’s a breakdown of the top forms of content and how they might work for different types of customers and businesses.

Blogs

Blogs can improve your SEO, drive traffic to your site and provide useful information that speaks directly to your customers’ needs. They’re a great way to build authority and trust and you can use the content from blogs in other types of content marketing. If you had to pick one type of content for your business, blogging would probably be it.

Videos

Video is quickly overtaking other forms of content as consumers’ preferred way to learn about and engage with brands. Videos can be used across platforms so they’re an incredibly versatile form of marketing. To sweeten the deal, videos are easier to create than ever. Our phones come equipped with high quality cameras and software to create videos, plus there are tons of cheap or free apps to help you create great video.

Interactive content

Interactive content is one of the best ways to improve engagement. Try out interactive content to get your customers to respond to your posts and even gain valuable information about them. Use polls, quizzes, lists, interactive maps and more to create excitement and interaction.

Infographics

Who doesn’t love a good infographic? You get a whole boatload of information in a fun, engaging, visual representation. Infographics are great for trying to educate your audience, present a complicated subject or present statistics. Since the brain processes visual information faster than text and many people are visual learners, infographics are a great way to get your message across.

Webinars and online courses

If you have valuable information to offer your audience webinars and online courses are a great way to demonstrate your expertise and even create a new form to monetize your knowledge.

White papers

One of the best forms of B2B marketing, white papers are a great way to stand out as a thought leader in your industry, gain more respect and create a lead magnet. Since white papers tend to be more [information dense and data driven,] you need to know that this is something your customers are looking for before you invest.

Case studies

Case studies are one of the best forms of content for conversion. If you have a great product or service and a strong history of success and satisfied clients, case studies could be right for your business. Another great thing about case studies is that they can convert into other forms of content marketing too.

Once you’re making the right content – then you can move on to how to distribute that content (social, email, etc). Content marketing is one of the best ways to foster organic growth for your business. But before you go gung-ho on your content, make sure you’ve got a killer content marketing plan and a trusty content calendar.

Go forth and create content!